Over 20 years of writing about my club in Barnet matchday programmes, which sold to about 500 souls on a good day, now with this Blog Site everyone can read my ramblings, memories, interviews, experiences, features, guides to away grounds and pure love of everything Barnet Football Club. Enjoy and digest and tell your friends.
Reckless - Potters Bar March 2014.
Oh Yes, thank you to"Al" without whom.......that is all

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BEN EMBERY

In
the spotlight is a player who is the perfect gentleman – a stalwart
of great times at Underhill and another player who I proudly tell
people I know personally.

“A
real gentleman of the game”, that is the phrase that sums up Ben
Embery perfectly and it is the one everybody who has played with him
will use. Ben appeared in over 300 first team games for our club,
most of them with that great side in the late 1960’s and early 70’s
and was voted BFCSA player of the year in 1972.

Ben Embery 1968

Born
in Barking in 1944, Ben started as an apprentice right back with the
then unstoppable Tottenham Hotspur in 1960. Only a regular in the
Spurs reserve side, such was the quality of that team, Ben moved to
Exeter City in 1965 - “The wages and terms were fantastic, my wife
Margaret fell in love with the area and off we went to Exeter!”
said Ben.In
the Summer of 1968, long time friend and Barnet full back Jimmy Lyle
suggested a return to London with the Bees in the Southern League. “I
had offers from Peterborough and Mansfield but I really didn’t see
any future for me at that level, so after a meeting with Dexter Adams
I joined Barnet. I utilised my recently achieved coaching badges and
got a job at Upton House School in Hackney as a PE teacher allowing
me to be part time at Underhill – the best decision in footballing
terms I ever made. Dexter saw my potential and converted me to a
Centre Half teaching me how to head a ball properly”.“That
was an incredible team and how we never won trophies I still cannot
work out. Les Eason and Bill Meadows scored for fun while Paddy
Powell used to destroy full backs plus we had Gerry Ward and Barrie
King as the engine department. I built up a brilliant understanding
with Gordon Ferry and we became firm friends. In fact that is one of
the reasons why Barnet Football Club has a very special place in my
heart, the camaraderie was fantastic and I honestly cannot recall any
bad blood amongst us, believe me that was unique.” said Ben.

Ben at Wembley

“I
can boast I played at Wembley in the FA Trophy Final in 1972, the
pinnacle of my career. Unfortunately we didn’t do ourselves justice
on the day and lost 0-3 to Stafford Rangers, but it was the most
incredible experience”.Ben
featured in the FA tie against First Division QPR in 1973 when Barnet
very nearly caused the upset of the season. After a amazing 0-0 at
Loftus Road Rangers finally won the replay 3-0 at a packed Underhill.
“I
can vividly remember early in the first game Terry Mancini completely
taking me out, whack! In the replay Gerry Francis and Stan Bowles
were magical and frankly we were on the back foot for most of the
second half but I do recall going in for a tackle with Stan and him
rolling around feigning injury. I just bent down and grabbed him by
his long hair and screamed ‘f****** get up. That was totally not in
my nature but I was so angry”.I
asked him what was his favourite game for Barnet and without a pause
recalled being 0-3 down at Bath City at half time in the FA Trophy.
“We sat in the changing room and Dexter convinced us we could turn
it around. Jimmy Lye in slightly different words said ‘you are
joking’ but we went out and scored four, Paddy Powell scored a
hatrick!”

Ben
eventually left Barnet in April 1975. Incredibly his last 4 games in
a Barnet shirt were in goal as Jack McClelland has fallen seriously
ill and the club didn’t have any goalkeeping cover. “We were
relegated to Division One North that season and all my contemporaries
had moved on. It was a very difficult decision because the club had
been so good for me, and indeed towards me.”Ben
was approached by Gravesend who has just been promoted to the
Southern Premier Division, he played 100 games for them before moving
to Dartford where he soon lined up against his beloved Barnet
complete with Jimmy Greaves. “Fifteen years earlier I had played
with him at Spurs and now I was marking him at Underhill, fantastic.
I then became what I called a jobbing non-league footballer and I
loved it. I moved to Ilford and then on to Grays and finally onto
Canvey Island”The
progression to a manager came naturally to Ben although he had no
real ambition to do so at first. “I started managing a local boys
club while I was still playing and it progressed from there. In 1983
I took over the mangers reins at Canvey Island FC. For the next 25
years Embery and his right hand man and best mate Steve Jackson
became a management team together at Canvey, Great Wakering Rovers,
Malden Town, Braintree Town, Concord Rangers - where he won the Essex
Senior League in 2003/4 and Benfleet. At
the time of writing Ben lives on Canvey Island with his wife of 45
years Margaret. He has three children, a son John and daughters Jill
and Dawn plus three grand children. Retired and a fit as a fiddle 69
years old he keeps in regular touch with me always keen to know the
latest goings on with Barnet FC.

“The
old boys from Dexter's days still keep in touch and in fact we all
met up for a lunch recently, its was fantastic reliving all those
times again. I wouldn’t change a thing in my life and I have had a
great life in the game and you couldn’t buy my memories especially
those from my time at Barnet.”